BANGOR, Maine — Why an 18-year-old Carmel resident drove her minivan into a car filled with people parked at the Airport Mall on Friday night is not clear, but she was quickly arrested after fleeing the scene, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said Wednesday.

Hillary M. Scovil, 18, who had been convicted of assault in September, was charged at around 6:50 p.m. with felony aggravated assault — which could land her behind bars for up to 10 years — and felony aggravated criminal mischief, the sergeant said.

The four people in the Ford Focus — including a young woman who was pulled inside the car just seconds before Scovil’s 2002 Dodge minivan rammed into it — and Scovil’s passenger told police there was some arguing in the parking lot beforehand, the prosecutor said.

After Scovil hit the car, she took off in the minivan, but a witness got the license plate number and she was stopped shortly afterward by Officer Jim Deering at Colonial Pines Trailer Park on Ohio Street, Edwards said.

The situation started shortly after a 20-year-old man, driving the Ford Focus, pulled into the Airport Mall parking lot, parking near the Maine Smoke Shop. His girlfriend got out of the vehicle and then he saw a silver van driving straight toward the car, Edwards said.

“He grabs her and pulls her in right before the van hit the car,” the sergeant said. “If he hadn’t pulled her into the car, it could have killed her.”

The girlfriend’s foot was “clipped” during the impact but otherwise she was OK, the sergeant said.

“She knew at least some of the people” in the car, Roberts said of Scovil. He said he doesn’t believe that the teenager was aiming at the woman outside the car.

“I think it was more likely she was aiming for the vehicle instead of the victim,” Roberts said.

After Scovil was arrested, she was taken to the Penobscot County Jail. She made her first appearance in court on Monday. She was released on a $1,000 cash bail after court and was ordered not to have contact with any of the witnesses, a jail official said.

“She has some anger issues — that’s how she put it,” Roberts said of Scovil.